Mohammed Arif | University of Wolverhampton (original) (raw)

Papers by Mohammed Arif

Journal of Architectural Engineering, Jun 1, 2023

The building sector is one of the most resource-exhausting areas in global energy consumption. Ma... more The building sector is one of the most resource-exhausting areas in global energy consumption. Maintaining good thermal comfort for occupants is the leading energy demand in buildings. The primary purpose of the current study is to identify the development of research areas on occupant comfort, pinpoint the gaps in knowledge and recommend directions for future studies. A scientometric analysis and a comprehensive systematic literature review are conducted using 792 sources. It is evident from the exponential increase in published papers that scholars are highly interested in this research topic. However, discrepancies remain between the two fundamental models of evaluating thermal comfort. There is a pressing need to balance thermal comfort while increasing energy efficiency. The foundation of achieving this balance can only be done by correctly evaluating the surrounding environment of occupants and understanding all the factors influencing human thermal comfort conditions. There is also a high potential in employing industry 4.0 technologies to assist in designing more innovative solutions for thermal comfort. Furthermore, there is a need for local thermal standards targeting specific regions. The lack of interoperability between BIM 3D modelling and energy simulation tools remains an obstacle.

Building and Environment, 2020

Thermal environment is one of the main factors that influence occupants' comfort and their produc... more Thermal environment is one of the main factors that influence occupants' comfort and their productivity in office buildings. There is ample research that outlines this relationship between thermal comfort and occupant productivity. However, there is a lack of literature that presents mathematical relationship between them. This paper presents a research experimental study that investigates effects of indoor environmental quality factors on thermal comfort and occupant productivity. This study was conducted by collecting indoor environmental quality parameters using sensors and online survey for twelve months. Data analysis was done using Response Surface Analysis to outline any mathematical relationship between indoor environmental quality and occupant productivity. The outlined relationships confirmed dependencies of occupant thermal comfort and productivity on various indoor environmental factors. These dependencies include the effect of CO2 concentration, VOC concentration. These relationships were analysed to rank nine indoor environmental parameters as per the degree of effect on occupant thermal comfort and productivity. These findings would help design professionals to design better office design that would improve occupants' comfort and their productivity. Study results have different implications for professionals working in design, construction and operation of office buildings. It is recommended that design guidelines for office buildings should consider occupant productivity and incorporate recommended range for indoor environmental quality parameters in respective categories and criteria.

Environmental Technology, 2021

Oil interceptors are traditional SuDS devices used in highway runoff treatment to remove both flo... more Oil interceptors are traditional SuDS devices used in highway runoff treatment to remove both floatable impurities (leaves, oil) and total suspended solids (TSS). This paper presents the results of an examination of the performance of an oil interceptor based on particle size distribution (PSD) and TSS during three rainfall events. The interceptor is situated on one of the busiest motorways in the UK (where peak traffic flow is 30, 000 vehicles per hour). Although the overall data collected for this study provided evidence that the interceptor removed, in most cases, 70 % of TSS, the data for particle size distribution (PSD) showed that the interceptor did not always cope with particle separation for particles of less than 25 μm diameter.

Information-Knowledge-Systems Management archive, 2004

Post-implementation analysis on Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems has drawn attention to... more Post-implementation analysis on Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems has drawn attention to many structural shortcomings. Yet, no framework exists to compare the different structural features...

Journal of Cleaner Production, 2020

This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the ad... more This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the addition of a cover page and metadata, and formatting for readability, but it is not yet the definitive version of record. This version will undergo additional copyediting, typesetting and review before it is published in its final form, but we are providing this version to give early visibility of the article. Please note that, during the production process, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.

Going north for sustainability:Leveraging knowledge and innovation for sustainable construction a... more Going north for sustainability:Leveraging knowledge and innovation for sustainable construction and development, CIB International Conference London.Reports over the past decade, reveal the trend of poor cost performances of many Low-cost Housing (LcH) projects. This have apparently resulted in huge monetary losses to the government as the client, declining housing supply and undermined affordability of many Low and Low-medium incomes particularly in developing countries like Nigeria. In spite of the changes with contemporary trends in Nigeria, it would appear that the techniques employed in the management of the delivery costs of the LcH projects particularly in the South-east zone are yet similar to those used over a century ago. This necessitates urgent and appropriate sustainable intervention strategies adopting cost-effective techniques. Prior studies affirms the implications of modern cost management techniques such as Target Value Design (TVD) in improving delivery cost perfo...

This investigation leads to critical recommendations for advancing the Small and Medium Enterpris... more This investigation leads to critical recommendations for advancing the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) for lean implementation within a Construction Supply Chain (CSC). The findings suggest that implementing Lean within a CSC requires a similar effort at different levels (Organisational and Process) of Supply Chain. This study presents essential recommendations that would ensure smooth flow of Lean implementation at all levels of a CSC. This paper draws upon relevant literature, sixty-three surveys and interviews with four professionals working on the frontlines and emphasises on the issues that hinder the SMEs engagement and contribution to Lean within Construction Supply Chain. Moreover, this involved respondents from Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 of a CSC that includes clients, executives, consultants, and other managers, who are directly involved in the Lean implementation in construction projects. This paper adds value to the existing knowledge of Lean implementation in a CSC and SMEs. This study is original in terms of establishing the recommendation to lean implementation in a CSC.

Architectural Engineering and Design Management, 2020

Effective cost management is a vital requisite for successful Low-cost housing projects (LHPs) ma... more Effective cost management is a vital requisite for successful Low-cost housing projects (LHPs) management and delivery. Whilst several attempts have been made to develop appropriate structured models for cost management practice, many of these models are fragmented and do not capture a holistic representation of the system components or their interrelationships in LHP settings. Moreover, these models are predominantly descriptive by nature-only identifying the components of cost management and not how they can be implemented within LHP settings. This research adopts an explicit sequential mixed research design to develop a bespoke LHP cost management model for process integration and evaluation in Nigeria. This identifies the structures and interrelationships needed to conceptualise and implement cost management practice effectively. Research findings highlight eight important techniques. These include target costing, approximate estimating, site meetings, Earned Value Analysis, on-site resource control, cash flow analysis, cost reporting and cost aggregation. However, it also needs to be acknowledged that it is important also to have: a well-developed client brief; detailed project designs and accompanying specifications; effective project planning and supervision; and competent teams (client and contractor) to discharge responsibilities. The importance of early contractor involvement was also seen as a core lever for success throughout the pre-design, design, and construction stages of LHP. The resulting model standardises cost management practice to provide a systematic 'blueprint' beneficial to project managers, cost managers and project management teams in evaluating and managing CMS processes more effectively in LHP settings. It is expected that the project department in Housing agencies adopts this model as a requirement for cost management practice in LHPs in Nigeria.

Procedia Engineering, 2017

Increasing population and progressing economies around the world are generating huge demand for b... more Increasing population and progressing economies around the world are generating huge demand for built assets. When this demand is dealt with conventional 'sticks-and-bricks' approach, it leads to usual delays, wastages, cost overruns, and quality issues, etc. Consequently, the traditional approach results in negative impacts on economic and social scenarios apart from being just unable to deliver required supply level of built assets. On the other hand, offsite construction techniques, when utilized appropriately, can significantly speed up the construction process and improve the quality of deliverables in addition to bringing in improved sustainability and better worker health and safety. But offsite practices are marred with a general perspective of its being cause of rigidity in the design processes and disproportional increment in coordination requirements. To address this perceived problem, the application of Building Information Modelling (BIM) has been conceptualized for the design of a prototype in this research. Simpler ways of modularization and effective optimization of design through parametric modelling has been developed. The methodology coming out of this design exercise, which is of reporting values of parametric variables real-time, is promising in the sense of ensuring the general and flexible usage of offsite practices. Further as experienced during the BIM modelling exercise for the prototype, the design iterations can be accomplished in a more informed manner and optimization run in an automated fashion by using the Application Programming Interface (API) of BIM authoring tool by taking advantage of already defined key parameters. This paper addresses these important issues at the conceptual level and determines a roadmap for further research.

Journal of Cleaner Production, 2017

The environmental and economic benefits of green business models (GBMs) are considerable if curre... more The environmental and economic benefits of green business models (GBMs) are considerable if current barriers can be identified and ways of overcoming them developed. In this study, barriers to GBMs are identified by conducting a qualitative study. Nineteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with selected UK construction sector experts from academia and industry and the results were obtained by applying thematic analysis. Five major categories of barriers emerged: government constraints; financial constraints; sector constraints; company constraints; and lack of demand. To understand the collective impact of these barriers, the interpretive structural modelling (ISM) method was used. The ISM-based model showed that government constraints are driving the rest of the barriers followed by financial and construction sector constraints equally then the by company constraints. Surprisingly, lack of demand appeared to have the least significance in hindering GBM transformation compared to the rest of the barriers. The results present a clear picture of the green construction market relevant to multinational enterprises (MNEs) intending to enter the UK. MNEs are therefore influenced by the government on strategic planning and capability building for GBMs. Effective engagement with the government will generate institutional advantages resulting in legitimacy and trust for MNEs in the UK markets.

Built Environment Project and Asset Management, 2016

Purpose Sustainability has the potential to bring enormous benefits to our built environment. To ... more Purpose Sustainability has the potential to bring enormous benefits to our built environment. To release this potential, a change in business models is required. The purpose of this paper is to investigate green business models (GBMs) transformation by adopting five essential elements of green value creation and capture: green value proposition (GVP), target group (TG), key activities (KA), key resources (KR), and financial logic (FL). Design/methodology/approach In this qualitative study, 19 semi-structured interviews were conducted. Interviewees were selected purposively. The emergent data were analysed with the aid of themes. Findings It was observed that significant effort was being made towards enabling the transformation of certain elements pertinent to green value creation: KA and KR. This was particularly so when compared to other elements like GVP, TG, and FL. Practical implications Findings from this study should encourage construction managers to align their extant BMs to...

Architectural Engineering and Design Management, 2016

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is being heralded as a remarkable innovation in the built en... more Building Information Modelling (BIM) is being heralded as a remarkable innovation in the built environment sector with expectations of lofty sector-wide improvements. Some countries have shown remarkable levels of uptake of BIM, along the way documenting some evidence of benefits stemming from BIM. However, countries like India and China are late entrants in the BIM adoption journey and are seeing a slower adoption rate. This study develops a model using the Technology-Organization-Environment framework to study the factors influencing BIM adoption by architectural firms in India and reasons for this slow adoption. The proposed model of BIM adoption is tested using Partial Least Square method against responses collected from 184 industry professionals based in India. Findings reveal that the adoption of BIM by Indian architectural firms is at the "experimentation" stage with variables such as expertise, trialability, and management support exhibiting a strong positive influence on BIM adoption. The study also explains the status of BIM adoption in India with the help of a multi-level social construct, which places the level of BIM adoption in India between the micro-and meso level of organizational scales. Similarities and dissimilarities with previous findings are discussed in the paper to highlight the findings of this study.

Knowledge sharing is widely regarded as vital to organisational innovations. Knowledge itself is ... more Knowledge sharing is widely regarded as vital to organisational innovations. Knowledge itself is seen to provide real value when it is converted into economic and competitive advantage to organisations. In the same vein, organisational culture is considered to play a vital role in knowledge sharing initiatives. Culture can be argued to be rooted in an organization’s core values and assumptions. Often these are not only unarticulated, but so taken for granted. They are therefore difficult to articulate and ‘invisible’ to organizational members. This paper, inter alia, explores the extent to which organisational structure and culture act as barriers to the successful implementation of knowledge sharing initiatives. Based on a critical review of extant literature, the paper purports to provide an insight, into the role that culture plays in effective knowledge sharing in the public sector. It also highlights the impact of motivational constructs in effective sharing of knowledge in the...

Offsite manufacturing has been advocated as a potential lever for addressing the increased emphas... more Offsite manufacturing has been advocated as a potential lever for addressing the increased emphasis placed on construction stakeholders to meet the challenges of sustainable construction. These challenges include a myriad of issues ranging from green agendadriven polices and initiatives, through to new strategies and formal mechanisms that are purposefully aligned to meet sustainable metrics and indicators. Whilst it is acknowledged that construction (inter alia) has been somewhat entrenched in a raft of potential 'ways forward', the resurgence of new collaborative approaches using technology-especially Building Information Modelling and SMART components provides promising opportunities for exploitation. This research presents an illustration of the potential to integrate design, development and delivery of products and services using offsite construction as an exemplar. The research methodological approach adopted employed a mixed-method research design, which included a series of discursive on-line interviews with domain experts to collect primary data, followed by a workshop to validate findings. These findings emphasised the importance of providing information 'transparency' in order to fully maximise and exploit offsite manufacturing technologies and processes to not only leverage success per se, but also enhance the collaborative working practices of (seemingly) disparate stakeholders.

International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment, 2015

Healing environment and Health Associated Infections (HAI) have been researched for more than 30 ... more Healing environment and Health Associated Infections (HAI) have been researched for more than 30 years globally. There is definitely a consensus among the researchers and practitioners about its importance. A range of issues such as knowledge management, performance management, design management and process management have been highlighted as major contributors to healing environment and HAI. This paper presents the results of a workshop conducted in Doha, Qatar with the purpose of exploring the problems encountered in the Qatari healthcare sector regarding HAI and healing environment. The major findings from the workshops indicated that there is a need for more research in the areas of knowledge management and performance management in order to better maintain healthcare facilities. The design of healthcare facilities and the implementation of green building guidelines in Qatar also need to incorporate design practices and features that can improve healing and have been researched in other parts of the world. This paper compiles the research agenda for future researchers to pursue and improve the performance and healing environment in Qatar.

Procedia Economics and Finance, 2014

Green business models have the potential to deliver a much better performance compared to the con... more Green business models have the potential to deliver a much better performance compared to the conventional business models in this age of sustainability. Stakeholder engagement is considered one of the key elements to help facilitate an increased uptake of green business models. There is limited research available on principles and mechanisms to enhance stakeholder engagement. This paper aims to investigate principles for engaging stakeholder in the context of the UK construction industry as a means towards achieving a green business model transformation. Qualitative research was used to investigate the practice of stakeholder engagement with 19 managers and academics in the construction sector. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with these professionals and thematic analysis was used to identify themes that display effective stakeholder engagement practice. The findings suggest that stakeholder engagement is a driver contributing towards an organizations success and it can help green business models implementation. Practices, of stakeholders engagement, emerge from the data include: top level support; staff empowerment; incentive and reward; collaboration; effective communication; understanding clients need; being proactive; interacting early with clients; building relationships; partnering; and matching or facilitating different services. Organizations' ability to interact and engage with stakeholder will be a major game changer on the competition environment. Thus, competencies around stakeholders' engagement will be a high priority in the future.

Construction Innovation, 2020

Purpose This paper presents a bespoke model for understanding off-site construction (OSC) readine... more Purpose This paper presents a bespoke model for understanding off-site construction (OSC) readiness among Indian construction organisations. This model presents 17 variables for discussion, the results from which help support OSC strategic decision-making. Design/methodology/approach Factor analysis was used to investigate the relationship between variables to group them into factors. After identifying 26 different variables, these were reduced to 17 using factor analysis and categorised into four groups. Descriptive statistical analysis and factor analysis using SPSS was used to develop a hierarchy of factors that affect OSC readiness in India. These findings were reinforced by five domain experts to support the results. Findings Minimising on-site duration, ensuring cost and time certainty and transportation issues were identified as the three most important factors, whereas lack of guidance and scepticism were among the lowest factors affecting the Indian OSC sector. Research lim...

Modular and Offsite Construction (MOC) Summit Proceedings, 2016

Offsite construction (OSC) has been presented by researchers and practitioners all over the world... more Offsite construction (OSC) has been presented by researchers and practitioners all over the world as an efficient and effective way of delivering buildings. The benefits regarding time, cost and quality are well-documented. However, it has not been successfully implemented in housing, especially in the affordable housing sector. This paper uses the case study method from the affordable housing sector to document these challenges and proposes a way forward for the sector. Also, findings indicate that the high cost of production was identified as a major barrier to the proliferation of off-site housing in the UK. However, the research found that the effective implementation of processes and practices such as Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DFMA) could reduce the likelihood of cost escalation.

Building and Environment, 2016

The purpose of this paper is to review the existing literature to draw an understanding of the re... more The purpose of this paper is to review the existing literature to draw an understanding of the relationship between indoor environmental quality and occupant productivity in an office environment. The study reviews over 300 papers from 67 journals, conference articles and books focusing on indoor environment, occupant comfort, productivity and green buildings. It limits its focus to the physical aspects of an office environment. The literature outlines eight Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) factors that influence occupant productivity in an office environment. It also discusses different physical parameters under each of the IEQ factors. It proposes a conceptual model of different factors affecting occupant productivity. The study also presents a review of the data collection methods utilised by the research studies that aim to investigate the relationship between IEQ and occupant productivity. The study presents a comprehensive discussion and analysis of different IEQ factors that affect occupant productivity. The paper provides a concise starting point for future researchers interested in the area of indoor environmental quality.

Modular and Offsite Construction (MOC) Summit Proceedings, 2015

The increasing demand for affordable housing in developing countries such as India which mainly u... more The increasing demand for affordable housing in developing countries such as India which mainly uses traditional construction technologies begs the need of technologies that are efficient, low cost, and at the same time high quality. Technologies used by developed nations can meet that need if the transfer could be accomplished efficiently. The purpose of this research is to present findings of a survey and follow-up interviews of senior managers from UK and India to explore the drivers and challenges to facilitate technology transfer in offsite construction between the two countries.